Pages

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The term "come to Jesus" often has a negative connotation... a meeting that is life changing yes...most often turns out for good...but not something we would want to experience with any sense of regularity. The term is most often combined in a phrase like this. "It's time to have a meeting, a come to Jesus meeting!" The intended recipient of this meeting has likely done something, maybe repeatedly, that warrants a meeting with their Creator. The words seldom refer to the speaker, but refer to some other individual that they are in relationship with who needs to make a change, who needs to be held accountable for their actions. The implied outcome of the meeting, is that Jesus is going to shape them up!

But the words COME TO JESUS are some of the sweetest words you and I could ever hear...and they are just the words our world needs to hear. Once we truly come, come to Jesus our lives are never the same. As we continue to come to Jesus our lives are never the same. As we help others come to Jesus...my heart leaps, tears well in my eyes, and I hold my breath...our lives are never the same. The Creator meeting with His created ones.

Monday, October 3, 2011

I just returned from a wonderful time in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My SE Asia team all live there and I get to visit then from time to time...this was one of those times.

It was the little things that really blessed me...

a comfortable place to stay
the quiet
the snails on the path to my room
conversations with new but dear friends and co-workers
celebrating a 10th birthday
mexican food
hanging out with a family
walking/jogging in a neighborhood
foot massages
connecting with the women on our team
italian food
the birds communicating
a shopping mall
...just to name a few...

The only American chain restaurant we have in Cambodia is KFC...and they don't carry diet coke...but Bangkok Airport had a fountain drink for me...and a whopper and fries. A little slice of home that I avoid when in the States but felt compelled to indulge in while in Asia: )

Chiang Mai has a wonderful place to get your toes done...Amazing... reminds me of Coco's on Okinawa : )

Great dinner out in the "Jungle"...an amazing place with an amazing team!

It wasn't all fun a games ; ) We did some work as well. Here were are lovely accommodations for those team sessions.

It's the little things that add up to huge blessings. It was great to be in Chiang Mai...and to connect as a team!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Below are some pictures and stories about the Reign of Terror of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. Over 2 million people lost their lives during this time.

It's hard to know what pictures to include...so I have only included a few to help tell the story.

Caution...the following pictures and stories are hard to view...please feel no obligation to continue.

This is the former secret Khmer Rouge prison, which was given the code name S-21. Prior to 1975 this was a high-school...interesting that they chose a school for a prison...as they strategically removed those that had any education. These buildings are now a memorial to those who lost their lives here. It is an understatement to say this is a hard place to explore.

Another view of S-21 now called the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Only 7 people were found alive in 1979, two of them are still alive today. Their stories combined with all that was found on site create a very bleak picture of life in this prison. One survivor just passed away this month, he was a painter and his pictures tell a gruesome story.

Early on in this genocide there were too many bodies to be buried in the city. So they started transporting live prisoners to their death outside the city. This is one of the mass graves that was discovered. This whole area is called the Killing Fields, with hundreds of mass graves. (every little valley you see in this picture is a mass grave)

Not all the bodies have been recovered...and every rainy season as the earth is washed away...their remains come to the surface. It's hard to see in this picture...but here are some clothes.

Some more clothes coming to the surface here in this picture. Words fail me as I try to describe what it's like to walk around these fields...the bodies are literally right under your feet...not carefully and lovingly laid to rest...but brutally thrown into a heap after suffering atrocities I can't even begin to understand.

Skulls that have been recovered.

This is the Pagoda that now holds the remains of many of the dead.

Cambodia is forever marked by this genocide. Every person living today that is at least 30 years old, has a Khmer Rouge story, but everyone has a connection. The country is still trying to recover.